Lost Over 20 Pounds

[scarr34]

Hi all,

My name is Steve. I'm 54 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, and when I began the regular program about 10 weeks ago I weighed 165 pounds. I lost 20 pounds in the first 7 weeks and a couple more pounds since then. My motivation for starting the program was to lose some weight and try to get off some of my medications. I had been taking 3 blood pressure meds daily plus a gout medicine. So far I've stopped the gout med and the calcium blocker.

My average work week is over 50 hours plus another 10 hours of commuting. During the week I don't have time to shop for food let alone cook it. I've been depending on Chinese restaurants, the cafeteria at work, and some self-service steam table-type places near my work location (upper West side of Manhattan). I doubt the food is as low oil as the program would like, but just not eating meat, eggs, and dairy has been enough of a fat reduction to lose weight. On the weekends I usually cook at home, but now I have to learn to cook over again. I don't even own a food processor. I used to be great at cooking meats and making omelets, but the new recipes require so many ingredients. I have to relearn everything.

I'm trying to stay on the program. After following the program for 2 weeks I found I had so much more energy. Right now I weigh about 142.
The last time I weighed so little I was sick from untreated high blood pressure!

Steve

[Birdy]

Hi Steve,
Congratulations on your weight loss and getting off some medications! Twenty pounds is a lot to lose in only 7 weeks. Hope you have continued success. Take advantage of the recipe board here on-line.

[Doris]

Steve,

You are doing great! Wow, you not only have lost weight but you are off 2 out of the 4 medicines in 10 weeks. I'm impressed! I'm also impressed that you have been able to stay close to the McDougall plan at regular eateries. That tells me I don't have any excuse not to stay on program. Now about your cooking on the weekends. Maybe, The Dr. McDougall's Quick and Easy Cookbook would be a good choice for you to purchase. Mary McDougall has streamlined a lot of recipes in it. She uses frozen and canned items to speed up the cooking. I wish you continued success on your McDougall journey.

[scarr34]

When you buy ready made foods you really never know how they were prepared. More than likely they are higher in oil than they should be. At my favorite steam table place, they have these asian-style noodles. They taste great but they look and feel greasy so I try not to have them that often. They also have white rice, mashed and roasted potatoes, and sometimes sweet potatoes or corn. They are probably safer, although the mashed pots may have some dairy in them.

Steve

[Jackie J]

if you can afford it, you might want to buy a kuhn rikohn (spelling?) pressure cooker -- it's the best invention when you have little time to cook - for me, it took away every obstacle to eating mcdougall. i made up the cost by eating more home cooked food and using so little gas on the stove
congratulations on your great success and your inspiring post

[Nettie]

Congratulations on your (rapid) weight loss, Steve! That's a lot of weight to lose in such a short period of time, especially when you didn't have an enormous amount to lose to begin with.
The suggestion to buy the Quick & Easy Cookbook was a good one. Everything in there can be made in usually 30 minutes or less, so with your time constraints you can cook something for yourself easily.
I would suggest those bagged salads you can get at the grocery story. I buy about 4-5 of those a week, plus several bags of spinach. I eat a huge salad every day for lunch. You could make a salad every evening to take to work the next day, along with a baking potato (already cooked, if they don't have a microwave at work). This would keep you out of the restaurants at lunchtime; you're surely getting way too much hidden oil where you're eating.
Keep up the good work. Pretty soon the comments are going to start coming in from your coworkers at how good you look. Be prepared for the "where do you get your protein" question.
Nettie

[scarr34]

Thank you all for your advice and encouragement. I've ordered a small pressure cooker.

Steve

[hope101]

Way to go, Steve! Keep up the good work. My husband spends a lot of time at work too and I pack his lunches for him. Perhaps an insulated lunchbox and some preplanning might make your life a little easier. Glad you have had such early success.