UPDATE 12/5/21. ETeSelle's Testimonial

[ETeSelle]

Please help me with suggestions. What do you put on oatmeal? Do you use soy or almond milk? I use unsweetened soy (regular fat because there is NO low-fat, sugar free soy milk); almond milk has too much sugar.

I find that using the frozen fruit makes oatmeal plenty sweet. I nuke it enough that the fruit breaks down--mix it in and it's very sweet and yummy. No need for milk of any kind, sugar, etc.

Ditto sweet potatoes and fruit--plenty sweet w/ no added sugar.

Part of the journey, really, is getting used to how REAL FOOD actually tastes, without all that added stuff on it. How food tastes w/out salt added, without sugar added is how it's supposed to taste. Add spices if you like--they are harmless. Cinnamon on oatmeal or sweet potatoes is great. Cumin and turmeric keep you from missing salt. Once your taste buds change, you will no longer miss the salt and sugar, and when you have items that have salt and sugar added they will taste bad to you!

Actually, Westsoy makes a fat free soy milk, FYI. I only use a splash in my Bengal Spice herb tea (chai-like) a few times a day.

I tried going without bread (whole wheat) and felt so awfully deprived I couldn't continue. I can't seem to eat a salad (especially a tart vinaigrette dressing) without taking the edge off with a bite of dry bread. How on earth does one stop eating bread???

For me, I just had to let go of bread b/c bread made me want things like sour cream and fake butter spread and soy mayonaise, etc. etc. etc. Getting the bread out of my life made it easier to get the other stuff out of my life, too.

I kept (and keep!) telling myself: Nothing tastes as good as thin feels. That is really TRUE. If I see every bite of some off-plan item as giving up a little bit of being slim and healthy, then it is for SURE not worth it! And I don't cheat.

How do you eat your whole grains? Do you eat them several times a day? Which ones?

I mostly eat brown rice and oatmeal. I'm very busy (2 jobs) and tend to keep it simple. I have grains once a day usually--occasionally twice--my most frequent starch is pototoes b/c I love them best. Sometimes I have taters for all 3 meals AND a snack, LOL!

I really need to lose only about 10 pounds but that seems impossible. I just seem to maintain my weight but losing is an impossible mountain. I was alright with weight until I hit menopause. Now, nothing budges. Unfortunately because of health limitations I am unable to do a lot of exericse, just a mile walk a day on some days.

Keep in mind that when you are close to a good weight, it is harder to lose. That's just physics. The more you weigh, the more calories you burn just EXISTING. But if you follow the MWL plan religiously, you WILL lose the weight, albeit slowly. The key, then, is not thinking you can go OFF the plan once you lose weight. Right now the amount of cals I am taking in on MWL w/ a little regular plan maintains me at 120. If I were to even go to all regular plan I would start gaining slowly. How do I know this? It's what happened before. But if I keep on keeping on as I've BEEN keeping on, I will stay at this weight.

[Phil2]

ETsSelle, Im curious....How do you make the potatos you eat ? I know how to bake them and make hash browns but its getting old...what do you do with them ?

Thanks and thanks again for the inspiration

[ETeSelle]

ETsSelle, Im curious....How do you make the potatos you eat ? I know how to bake them and make hash browns but its getting old...what do you do with them ?

I'd say that 90% of the non-sweet potatoes I eat are in recipes. See Jeff's Fast Food DVD for the type of "recipes" I make. Mostly I just nuke them, cut them up, and toss them in a pot w/ the other stuff. I also nuke Yukon golds and keep the in the fridge to have for cold snacks. They're great when I'm on the road, etc.

When I'm in a SUPER hurry in the evenings I make the world's easiest dinner: several nuked Yukon golds cut up in a bowl with a can of low sodium triple succotash (corn, tomatoes, and beans). Heat and serve.

If you're into more elaborate meals there are MANY great recipes that call for taters in the various McDougall cookbooks!

[Suebee]

Thank you EteSelle from taking the time from your busy schedule of TWO jobs to reply to all of us wondering how you do it day to day. I can see one has to apply all one's psychology to like such a simple diet and I can't say I have or ever will. The idea of having to eat that way FOR LIFE is just to extreme for me. I guess I would rather weigh a bit more than be that thin. I have been at your weight a couple of times before but always felt hungry, never satisfied, always weak and now I am quite a bit older than you, it just doesn't seem worth it. Besides my blood work doesn't come back so good if I lower fats as much. I think I just don't absorb nutrients as well when I do, as studies have shown regarding eating salads with no fat. Even Dr. Fuhrman thinks one can take lo fat to extremes. Some like you seem to have excellent digestions and good energy on such a diet without ill effects. I am happy for you. I have managed to stay alive for 20 years on my own plan, beyond doctor's dire predictions of giving me at most 10 years to live. I always try to learn from others in case I can somehow tweak my own good results. You are an amazing success.

[smassena]

I'm on day two and really trying to stay with the program. If I can stay on the extreme diet til I get most of this weight off, then going to the regular McDougall diet will seem like a real treat. Thanks for the encouragement

[frozenveg]

Thank you EteSelle from taking the time from your busy schedule of TWO jobs to reply to all of us wondering how you do it day to day. I can see one has to apply all one's psychology to like such a simple diet and I can't say I have or ever will. The idea of having to eat that way FOR LIFE is just to extreme for me. I guess I would rather weigh a bit more than be that thin. I have been at your weight a couple of times before but always felt hungry, never satisfied, always weak and now I am quite a bit older than you, it just doesn't seem worth it. Besides my blood work doesn't come back so good if I lower fats as much. I think I just don't absorb nutrients as well when I do, as studies have shown regarding eating salads with no fat. Even Dr. Fuhrman thinks one can take lo fat to extremes. Some like you seem to have excellent digestions and good energy on such a diet without ill effects. I am happy for you. I have managed to stay alive for 20 years on my own plan, beyond doctor's dire predictions of giving me at most 10 years to live. I always try to learn from others in case I can somehow tweak my own good results. You are an amazing success.

I have to say, I am so satisfied eating like ET and I have never allowed myself to get hungry. I know everyone is different, but I feel so wonderful when I have my potatoes and rice and veggies. This is the only time in my life when I have been able to walk away from food and say, "I'm not hungry--I don't need that!" This has never happened before. I pay no attention to the fats, but every once in a while I track my food on the CRON-O Meter, and I am always under 12% fat, every day. I can't picture having more fat than that and keeping the energy up--I had high-fat corn chips a few weeks ago at a restaurant, and I was sleepy all afternoon. This way of eating us the "rest of our lives!" It is absolutely FOR LIFE!

[Gypsy]

I second frozenveg ...Potatoes, rice and veggies...No hunger...it's great....love it

[Loveskale]

You look SO healthy! What an inspiration

[ETeSelle]

I guess I would rather weigh a bit more than be that thin. I have been at your weight a couple of times before but always felt hungry, never satisfied, always weak and now I am quite a bit older than you, it just doesn't seem worth it. Besides my blood work doesn't come back so good if I lower fats as much. I think I just don't absorb nutrients as well when I do, as studies have shown regarding eating salads with no fat. Even Dr. Fuhrman thinks one can take lo fat to extremes.

Well, Dr. McDougall doesn't. And there is still plenty of fat in the McDougall plan--just not ADDED fat. Oatmeal is 20% fat, for instance.

Fact is that if you were hungry and "weak," you weren't eating enough of the right kinds of foods. It's just that simple.

I'm not super-thin--I'm what a woman of my height should weigh, in the lower end of the BMI scale, where the most health benefits accrue. If you choose not to shoot for that point, that's certainly up to you, but please don't mislead people here. If you follow the McDougall plan closely and make sure to eat enough food, esp. enough starches, you will NOT be hungry or weak--you will be satisfied and strong!

[smassena]

I have been following the McDougall FLP all week. At the end, I had only lost 1#. And yes, various beans and riceor potatoes for 2 meals and fruit for a third. I add a green salad for one with raw veggies for one meal. Am I missing something

It does seem like I am eating a lot more calories with all these beans and rice, but I am not hungry. shoosh prior to this week, I'd just grab a piece of chocolate or nuts and it would be a lot less bulk (lol)

[ETeSelle]

I have been following the McDougall FLP all week. At the end, I had only lost 1#. And yes, various beans and riceor potatoes for 2 meals and fruit for a third. I add a green salad for one with raw veggies for one meal. Am I missing something

Not sure what FLP is???

1# a week is still a loss. Not sure what the problem is, LOL. If you have a LOT to lose you can expect to lose more quickly if you are following the plan strictly. But if you are not very overweight the loss will be much slower. That's just how it is.

It does seem like I am eating a lot more calories with all these beans and rice, but I am not hungry.

You're not eating more calories b/c the food is not calorie dense. When you eat food that IS calorie dense (meat, foods w/ added fats, dairy products, etc.) you can't eat very much of it w/out gaining weight. When you eat food that is nutrient dense but not calorie dense (green and yellow veggies, potatoes, whole grains, fruits) you can eat a ton of it and still lose weight.

The Cron-o-meter is a great tool--I recommend the version you download to your computer over the web version. You can track your daily meals there, and you'll be surprised how much you can eat and still not be taking in many cals.

http://spaz.ca/cronometer/

Here is a good thread w/ info on it, as well as Jeff's recs for changing the values to fit w/ this WOE:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6796

[nicoles]

Thank you EteSelle from taking the time from your busy schedule of TWO jobs to reply to all of us wondering how you do it day to day. I can see one has to apply all one's psychology to like such a simple diet and I can't say I have or ever will. The idea of having to eat that way FOR LIFE is just to extreme for me. I guess I would rather weigh a bit more than be that thin. I have been at your weight a couple of times before but always felt hungry, never satisfied, always weak and now I am quite a bit older than you, it just doesn't seem worth it. Besides my blood work doesn't come back so good if I lower fats as much. I think I just don't absorb nutrients as well when I do, as studies have shown regarding eating salads with no fat. Even Dr. Fuhrman thinks one can take lo fat to extremes. Some like you seem to have excellent digestions and good energy on such a diet without ill effects. I am happy for you. I have managed to stay alive for 20 years on my own plan, beyond doctor's dire predictions of giving me at most 10 years to live. I always try to learn from others in case I can somehow tweak my own good results. You are an amazing success.

I have to say, I am so satisfied eating like ET and I have never allowed myself to get hungry. I know everyone is different, but I feel so wonderful when I have my potatoes and rice and veggies. This is the only time in my life when I have been able to walk away from food and say, "I'm not hungry--I don't need that!" This has never happened before. I pay no attention to the fats, but every once in a while I track my food on the CRON-O Meter, and I am always under 12% fat, every day. I can't picture having more fat than that and keeping the energy up--I had high-fat corn chips a few weeks ago at a restaurant, and I was sleepy all afternoon. This way of eating us the "rest of our lives!" It is absolutely FOR LIFE!

Me too! I mean I eat a similar diet and am never hungry or weak - in fact, I feel great!

[Herbivore]

ETeSelle - I finally got around to trying your sweet potato with frozen fruit and cinnamon. I mixed mine with blueberries - YUM!!
Note to anyone reading this: it sounds sort of ok, but tastes much much better than ok - try it today!

[ETeSelle]

Yeah, I'm kind of addicted to it, LOL. If I run out of sweet taters and have to have oatmeal, I get pouty. Used to LOVE oatmeal, but sweet taters are better!

[Suebee]

Okay EteSelle, I'll have to give it another try--when the husband goes out of town! It's easier not to have nuts, bread or other "high calorie" foods around when he is not here. Thanks for the encouragement. By the way, I can't find low-fat Westsoy milk without sugar. Does yours contain sugar?