Lost 131 pounds in 13 months

Share your McDougall successes here in order to inspire others.

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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby potchneeyoung » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:05 pm

Mixedgrains, I love potatoes too, but I loved to put unhealthy butter, milk, and fatty gravy on mine. Also I oftentimes ate the processed instant mash potatoes too. I have changed to eating yellow Yukon potatoes from Costco. I learned this from Mrs. McDougall. Yellow Yukon potatoes are more expensive than normal white russet potatoes but with just water and a little salt and garlic powder, they taste as good to me as my former mash potatoes with butter and milk. I buy my yellow Yukon potatoes from Costco, because that is the cheapest. Having good brown gravy was a problem, but I found a couple of onion, mushroom recipes with nutritional yeast that is more than adequate substitutes for the unhealthy meaty and fatty gravies that I was use to. My family loves yellow Yukon potatoes now and we no longer eat the white russet or instant potatoes. On tortillas, I use to eat the white flour wheat tortillas, but these are typically 30% fat. Corn tortillas are much lower in fat, cheaper, and I believe healthier, so I switched to corn tortillas. I say this because I do not think you eating corn tortillas is a problem, as long as you are not cooking or eating them with oil or things like sour cream or cheese. Like others who have read your story, I was impressed and wish you to continue your success, which is why I have made these suggestions.
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby MixedGrains » Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:15 pm

Potchneeyoung, believe it or not I grew up in the actual Yukon river valley just below the arctic circle, and my family grew six or seven hundred pounds of potatoes every year for root cellar storage and winter consumption (with butter or gravy of course). Of course the only breeds that grow well there are the short-season near-skinless varieties like the ones currently sold as Yukon Gold or Klondike Rose. I was an adult before I ever tasted a mealy dry Russet "Idaho spud" and I nearly spat it out because I thought it had gone off due to the nasty grainy texture. All this is to say I heartily agree with you about the Yukon varieties!

There's also a little yellow-fleshed curved spud the size of your thumb that grows very well in the north, and cooks up very sweet and good. We called them "Swede potatoes" and you don't see them for sale very often, although I have seen something similar sold as (expensive) "fingerling potatoes". They were very prolific producers in cold soil -- sometimes we'd get 150 of them under a single plant -- but were labor-intensive to harvest and wash due to their small size. I wish I could find some now.

For the last few days I've been eating the dry mealy Russets -- I was in a hurry and the store I was in only had Russets and only in 10 pound bags for next to no money. But I've got a source of cheap Klondike Rose and I'll be going back to them.

I had not even considered making a healthy gravy, but I've been making my own mostly-unsweetened catsup for them, or just heating one of those tiny cans of tomato sauce and mixing in seasonings. But, by coincidence, I just saw Chile's link to his turkeyless turkey gravy, and it's giving me ideas...

I have (at least temporarily) sworn off the tortilla eating, even though I didn't think they were likely to cause me a problem. I was using the no-added-oil corn tortillas, cutting them in half, and toasting them until crispy and hard in an old cast iron frying pan on the stovetop, to make a sort of crisp flatbread that I was eating with my beans and rice. The thing was, I was eating three to a meal, and that was (in hindsight) pure added calories -- I didn't reduce my beans/rice portion, I just started eating another 200 calories every day (400 on days I ate beans/rice twice). Given the amount I eat, I wouldn't think that would make a difference ... but right now, that theory is in competition with the potato theory, which makes even less sense. So, we do science.
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby NorthernCalGal » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:16 pm

You are definitely an inspiration! I have about 100 lbs to lose and am just getting started. I think the important thing with a plateau is to remember that it is still a success -- think about it -- you're not gaining and you're maintaining a big loss! This is a lifelong journey and you are lengthening the years of your journey and improving the quality of it! Kudos to you and can't wait to hear about your plane ride :)
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby MixedGrains » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:54 pm

NorCalGal, you're absolutely right! In fact, I was thinking about that earlier this evening. I didn't start eating this way to lose weight -- that was something I wrote off as impossible/unlikely years ago. I started it for cardiac health and to work on my diabetes, which is (was) really terrifying when you start paying attention to what happens as it advances. And I'm delighted with the results on those fronts.

That said, losing so much weight turned out to be really easy ... but I suspected all along it would stop being quite so easy at some point, once the most ridiculous rolls and flabs of overweight were gone. I'm not stressing about a month of level maintenance, not in the slightest. All I'm doing is starting to consider which easy tweaks to try in what order. Because, as wonderful as 390-ish feels after awhile north of 500, I've got to wonder what under-300 would feel like!
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby afreespirit » Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:09 am

Congratulations on your great success so far, MixedGrains! On this board, I have observed that those of us who have quite a bit more than 100 lb to lose do tend to plateau after awhile. We don't all necessarily enjoy strictly linear success. Some of us may have to work at it harder, but so be it.

No matter how long it takes, never give up. Stay the course. Tweak as necessary. Add exercise.

Stay the course. :)
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby ArchiesBoy » Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:43 am

For the record: My son and I went out to eat brunch at a Mexican restaurant buffet today, and I ate a plateful of rice, beans, and potatoes. I also had a little flan for dessert and a Kraken Lava Colada during the meal (no lunch, no dinner). It will be interesting to see what I will weigh tomorrow morning. :D :eek:

@MixedGrains: Just keep on doing the process. If you do your right thing, eventually your body will do it's right thing. I find that for me at least, there's a time lag between what I do and how my body reacts to it — sometimes as much as three or four days. It may be the same for you. If it is, take that lag into consideration. I find that in general, the body has its own schedules and time tables which may seem of absolutely no relation to what you do. Just sayin... :wink:

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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby Melinda » Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:36 am

Yes, congratulations on your success! I have found 'Swede ' potatoes at our local farmers' market and they are delicious. Do you still live in the North, Mixedgrains?
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby eaufraiche703 » Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:13 am

I love your story, MixedGrain! IT's just amazing!

You GO, guy!
what would Scooby do?
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby MixedGrains » Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:46 am

Melinda wrote:Do you still live in the North, Mixedgrains?

Not lately, but I still have stuff in storage ... hope to get back north one of these years soon.
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby MixedGrains » Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:38 pm

If this post had a title it would be:

Fun Times At The Cardiologist's

So yesterday I went in for an echocardiogram, to follow up the one I had a year ago. And then, this morning, I had the visit with the actual cardiologist, following up my first visit on March 30.

The echo (ultrasound) was astonishingly fast -- it took less than 1/5th the time that my first one did. I commented to the tech that it seemed really fast and he said very smugly "Sometimes it just doesn't take very long to see what we need."

So you know what happened next. Withing thirty seconds of greeting me this morning, my cardiologist said "We didn't see everything I want to see on that ultrasound, I'm taking you back down the hall to try again." I mentioned it had gone very fast and quoted the smug tech, and the cardiologist looked pained, but he just said "I want to see more."

So down the hall we went, to be greeted by the same tech, now looking rather pissed off. This time the cardiologist put me up on the bench in a different position, that required the tech to move his machine to a different place and plug it into a different outlet -- which meant his computer had to reboot. All this took quite awhile.

Then the cardiologist made a patronising (to the tech) speech that was intended to be diplomatic, but failed miserably as only high-powered doctors can flub diplomacy. It went sort of like this: "Well, now, let's see if I still remember how to do this. This fellow here has way more experience than I do (recently) but I used to be very good at this..."

There followed a long interval of prodding, trying different spots, and dial twiddling, with muttered conferencing between cardiologist and grumpy imaging tech. The trouble seemed to be that one of my valves of interest was insufficiently audible. Eventually they got everything set just so, a new set of valve chirping became audible, the doctor said "capture and print that!" and then to me "Very good. Very good. Just like last time." The tech then wanted to argue -- he wasn't sure the valve we were hearing was the one the doctor wanted to hear -- but the cardiologist scoffed at him. "See? Here? And this line here? That's the {mumbojumbo} all right!"

After that, the consult in his office was anticlimactic. Bottom line was, my valve disease has not progressed since the last ultrasound a year ago, which is very good news. The doctor was also very happy with my current blood pressure, heart rate, and blood lipids numbers. "Just keep doing what you're doing!" (And, of course, go see him every six months for the rest of my life, please.)

Upon discovering that I lost 80 pounds since the last time I saw him, he did inquire a bit more about my diet. When I described it, he gave no sign of recognizing the names "Esselstyn" or "McDougall", and after I summarized it, he said "So, you're just eating a lot fewer calories, then." I said "Well, I'm sure I am, but I'm not watching portion sizes and I'm eating as much as I want." Him, suspiciously: "So, what are you watching then?" I repeated that I was avoiding certain foods categories, namely oil, meat, and dairy; to which he responded "Well, that's why it works then, you'll be eating a lot less calories when you eat that way." Which I suppose is true as far as it goes, but I thought it an intellectually-narrow response.

I asked him his thoughts on sodium (since I don't focus on minimizing it, though of course I try not to eat stupid amounts of salt) and he basically said "No need to be a fanatic about it, but lower is always better." No surprise there.

And then I asked him about my low HDL numbers, since I'm mindful of Dr. McDougall's view that HDL “Good” Cholesterol is Not Worth Your Attention (when total cholesterol and LDL numbers are good). The doctor sort of interrupted me before I could finish my question, saying very emphatically "We do need to worry about your HDL levels." I said something like "I'd gathered there was some controversy..." and he again, very forcefully interrupted me: "No! Low HDL is a problem. On this there is no controversy. Ask many doctors and 99% will agree on this. Where there is controversy is on how to raise it. Whether to use drugs or not, this is the controversy! But I do not believe in drugs for this."

Fine, whatevs, bro. I don't think he ever comprehended the nuance of my question, but he's not asking me to pop yet another pill, so I'll keep going with his "keep doing what you're doing" admonition.

Was it all worth the $700 out of pocket and four hours of driving? It would be easy to say "no" except of course that I'd have a different view if my echo had shown worsening of the valve problems. I suppose it's valuable to know that whatever was harshing my heart valves (Avandia? Blood pressure? Extreme obesity? Diabetes? Choose as many as you like, none of my medical professionals have expressed any interest in opining) has improved to the point where it's not doing ongoing damage.
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby eaufraiche703 » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:38 pm

oy, jeez.

maybe you should've kept the 700 in the pocket as downpayment for a trip to one of Dr McD's advanced study weekends or costa rica or somethin.

but you are doing such a GREAT job!!!!! keep it up!!!!! :

:nod:

thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
what would Scooby do?
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby surrealchereal » Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:37 am

You're an inspiration! Thank you for sharing. :)
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby MixedGrains » Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:11 am

Well, after five weeks of Friday weights that bounced around between 395 and 391, I seem to have perhaps busted that plateau, weighing in this morning at 386 (down from 393 last week).

We'll see if future weeks support the following conclusion: Eating an average of 5 corn tortillas a day makes more difference than you would think!

Yup, the big difference this week was no corn tortillas. I did eat one meal of the Ezekial sprouted-grain wraps (the ones we call "Bible wraps" or "Jesus wraps" in this house because of the verse from which they take their name that's printed all over the packaging) but those are too bloody expensive to make a daily habit of! (It also helps they come from a store that's 85 miles away.)

I was mindful of my potato intake, but what with the two visits to Wendy's, I don't think I ate many (if any) fewer potatoes than usual, despite my irrational suspicion of them delicious tubers.

But I also took ETeSelle's advice and kept notes this week about what I ate. Just for interest, I'll post these here, now. There are no quantities, but you can assume fully-loaded plates and bowls -- I eat hearty. (We aren't big on washing dishes at my house, so "plate" and "bowl" typically mean the standard 10" paper Dixie plates and 20oz paper Dixie bowls.) The notes should be pretty inclusive, though I do sometimes "graze" on fruit or veg as I walk through the kitchen, so there might easily be an extra serving or two of fruit forgotten and not listed on some of these days. I know for sure that my piles of produce are missing half a bag of small cucumbers, half a tray of campari tomatoes, and at least three small tangerines, that I most certainly ate but managed to fail to record below:

A WEEK OF MEALS: 10/7 thru 10/13

Friday:

Breakfast:
Bowl of crock pot beans (15-bean-mix, plus black beans, plus an onion and spices) mixed with my cooked grain mix (brown rice, red rice,rye berries,wheat berries,oat groats,spelt,hulled barley, millet, flax, spices)

Lunch:
Half a small canteloupe

Snack:
Bowl of celery sticks

Dinner:
Tacos (made with Ezekial-brand sprouted-grain wraps, fat-free refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro) and a glass of wine

Late snack:
Plate of cut apple, celery, carrots, romaine hearts

Saturday:

Breakfast:
Bowl of crock pot beans over cooked grains

Late lunch:
Plate of Chopped/pasta salad with white bean dressing

Late dinner:
Bowl of chopped/pasta salad and a glass of whisky/soda

Sunday:

No breakfast

Lunch:
Bowl of crock pot beans over cooked grains, with hot sauce

Afternoon snacks:
A banana and a few chunks of canteloupe

Dinner:
4 med potatoes, one medium onion, cooked in microwave steamer, served with seasoned tomato sauce; and a glass of wine

Late snack:
Bowl of chopped/pasta salad and a glass of whisky/soda

Monday:

Breakfast:
Bowl of oatmeal, made of equal parts rolled oats and rolled rye, handfuls of raisins and frozen berries stirred in, cooking liquid a healthy splash of apple juice topped up with water

Lunch:
Plate of the chopped/pasta salad
A banana

Dinner:

Plate of crock pot chili (red and pinto beans, onion, tomato paste, spices) over cooked grain mix, and a glass of wine

Late snack:
Bottle of ESB (ale)
1 can of canned peaches in juice (rinsed)

(Note: The can of peaches is your sign that we were entirely out of fresh fruit and getting low on fresh veggies. Next day was a Sams Club run (70 mile drive) and you'll notice the quantity/quality of fruit and vegetables in the meals suddenly goes WAY up!)

Tuesday:

Breakfast:
Bowl of chili over cooked grain mix

Lunch snack:
5-6 small cucumbers

Dinner snack:
Fruit/veg plate: grapefruit,banana,3-4 campari tomatoes, handful of snap peas

Late dinner:
Small bowl chopped/pasta salad while veggies cooking
Microwave-steamered veggie platter: 1 potato, 2 onions, 1 red bell pepper, 6-8 stalks asparagus (served with my patented instant sauce for steamed veggies, consisting of picante sauce from a jar, splashes of soy sauce and vinegar, plus a hefty pinch of garlic powder, all stirred together)

Wednesday:

Breakfast:
Plate of chopped/pasta salad (5th day eating; need to finish it)
A banana

Lunch:
Wendy's baked potato with catsup
Wendy's side salad, no dressing

Dinner:
Last of the chopped/pasta salad
Microwave-steamed veggie platter: 3 small potatoes, 2 small onions, 6-8 stalks asparagus

Late snack:
big handful of grapes

Thursday:

Breakfast:
2 Wendy's baked potatoes, with catsup
2 small bananas

Lunch:
Crock pot chili over mixed grains
small handful grapes
2 cherry tomatoes

Afternoon snack:
Plate of raw snap peas
Pear

Dinner:
Microwaved steamed-veggie platter: 1 large potato, 1 small onion, 6-8 stalks asparagus, 1 red bell pepper

Whoops! Late night eating frenzy:
3 pieces of sprouted-grain pumpernickle bread, toasted, with almond butter and apricot preserves
Bowl of crock pot beans (because if I didn't conclusively fill myself up I was never going to stop going back for more slices of delicious crunchy sweet greasy toast!)
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby skinnyrobbie1 » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:28 pm

Thanks for posting this update, Mixed. I've been struggling with the corn tortillas, as well. And congratulations on your incredible weight loss. It's no small task and accomplishment.
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Re: Lost 88 pounds in under six months

Postby MixedGrains » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:12 pm

Heh, don't struggle with 'em -- just stop eating 'em! :D

I guess I'm sorta kidding. But you know, I only started eating them because I was missing convenient bread textures, and it seemed like they shouldn't cause much of a problem. Which, any given meal, they shouldn't. But it's food habits that kill if the food is even a little bit calorie-dense, and somehow "I can get away with eating a few tortillas" turned into tortillas with 10-12 meals a week.

I am finding that there are a lot of foods that are not completely off-plan, but which work best for me if I treat them as "special contingency" foods. If there's a specific reason I need to eat them (the best or only alternative for a social occasion or when eating out, say) then I eat them, happily. But if I'm eating a solitary, habitual meal, they shouldn't be on the menu -- because those solitary habitual meals are where most of my calories are consumed, and where my bad old bulk eating habits can most easily creep back in, unobserved and unnoticed. Sadly, it looks like tortillas are going to have to inhabit this "contingencies only" category for me.
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