Trudging the Happy Road of Destiny.....

[Love]

Hi McDougall friends,

I'm struggling with compulsive overeating and now I've gratefully surrendering to the McDougall way of eating. Well, I've had to do some minor adaptations to meet my unique needs, mainly emphasizing as much raw food as possible.

So, I stand 5'3" and I'm well over 200 pounds. I experimented with many different diet plans and could intuitively tell this one resonated with me. I'd like to do on-going journaling here, for accountability and maybe my journey away from compulsive overeating, ill health to more vibrancy will help someone else. I'm very open to feedback.

Honestly, Easter didn't go well yesterday. I'm no longer ethically okay with eating meat, and now realize I'm addicted! So, I'm taking steps to address that. Namely, twelve of them. I've started attending Overeaters Anonymous. I'm using it to deal with my compulsive overeating issues and to support myself on the McDougall plan, although we don't discuss our individual meal plans (that's legit).

I'm at the place where I'm gauging how bad my compulsion is. Whether I need to pay for a consultation with a nutritionist and go on a more structured meal plan with support. I'm hoping to not need that much structure, having to weigh and measure everything. Well, if I do need that, maybe it could be transitional. I know some people feel very strongly against the recovery fellowships; I don't care! It really helps a lot of people. It's the practice of meditation in particular I want to get into.

I thought I would make mini-goals with my weight loss. I'm at 207, I think, so my first goal is to get under 200. And, hey, it's my life, call me juvenile! I'm going to have a prize for each ten pounds I lose When I hit 199, I'm going to take myself out to the movies! Some other rewards for each ten-pound allotment: buy myself a ring (I don't have any right now), one of those amazing, inexpensive massages at the Chinese clinic. Those are some good goals. I want this to be joyful and healing, not a sense of deprivation.

I'm on a really tight budget and I'm so grateful that this diet is economical. I've been experimenting with it and I know this isn't McDougall style but I am going to stick with a fresh-fruit breakfast, that really really works for me. Then I've gravitated towards having a salad with starch for lunch and dinner. That's keeping me satiated and energetic. I'm digesting the food really well, unlike when I eat dairy and meat. I sure have to be careful with the starch though: no gluten, although I do well with sprouted Ezekiel products, which I rarely get because of expense, corn only if it's sprouted (awesome Ezekiel corn tortillas), rice pasta for special occasions. I mostly stick with the soft starch like potatoes, tubers, and hard winter squash.

Well, I've made one big step in the right direction today. I didn't get my usual mocha at Starbucks. I just got black tea that has a lot less caffeine. Tomorrow I'll return to just drinking green tea; I feel my best on just that and won't be trashing my poor, little adrenal glands. Not to mention that's an expensive habit!

One last thing......I'm drastically reduced my fat intake but there's still some. For my dinner salad I put just a teaspoon in the blender with fresh apple or orange juice, miso, a splash of apple cider vinegar and a couple of dates; this blends up into a wonderful salad dressing. I'm very, very hard pressed to eat salad plain and have not enjoyed any fat-free salad dressing, so for now, this will stand. I will continue to evaluate it.

If anyone actually read this-congratulations!! Yes, I know this is quite self-indulgent, but I figure to heal from compulsive overeating will requite a lot of introspection. And it's fun for me to turn over all of this material as I delve into this new way of life. I don't know how often I can journal here, but I'm serious about tackling this WOE and gaining my health. Thanks!

[geo]

Congrats on making the decision to try this out. BTW, nothing self-indulgent about wanting to regain your health!

That salad dressing sounded good to me. How about trying to sub a tablespoon of water with a touch of ground flax in it. The flax acts as a thickener and should be a pretty tasteless sub for the oil. Much better mouth feel without the greasiness.

Good luck on your journey...a lot of us are in the same boat.

[Norm]

Hi Love!

I too have issues with compulsive overeating. This plan will give you breathing room to work on that issue while still losing weight. Wander on over to Jeff Novick's forum and study up on Calorie Density. Once you understand the concept it's a lot easier to eat few enough calories that you lose weight, while still satisfying the large quantities of food you're used to.
I eat a lot less than I used to, but still eat a lot of food. The learning curve has been slow, but the progress has been remarkable! I still have a long way to go but I'll get there!

I think that compulsive overeating is largely an adaptation of our bodies to the poor nutrition of the Western Diet. We consume far too many calories, but not enough nutrition, so there is a switch in our brain that tells us "we need more nutrition" and we answer it by eating more crap, which does not turn off the need for more nutrition, only makes us fatter and sicker.
If we reverse that, and start eating tons of nutrition but few calories, which is what this program is all about, we will naturally, over time and without much effort on our part, retrain our brains and bodies to adapt to the proper nutrition it was designed for.

I have nothing against 12 step programs. A.A. helped me through some very difficult times in life. But if we do as suggested above, we put ourselves on the path to recovery without even thinking about it. I'm not knocking OA, or discouraging you from using them, but in my opinion, the best way to overcome the compulsion to overeat is to start feeding your body what it truly needs.

OA can really help people struggling with that uphill battle to regain control over food in their lives. By changing to this way of eating we level the playing field and it's no longer an uphill battle, but more like an interesting and enjoyable journey. Truly, a "Happy Road Of Destiny", but not one we have to trudge along. OA can compliment that. But in my opinion, if everyone who struggles with compulsive overeating would just eat the way we eat, there wouldn't be a need for OA.

I'm glad you're here!! Happy Eating!

-Norm

[toadfood]

Sounds like you are off to a good start! OA has helped me a lot; I hope it helps you as well.

Have you tried any salad dressing that include a little tahini or nut butter as an ingredient? It's a whole food, and might help wean you off the oil.

[Love]

Sounds like you are off to a good start! OA has helped me a lot; I hope it helps you as well.

Have you tried any salad dressing that include a little tahini or nut butter as an ingredient? It's a whole food, and might help wean you off the oil.

Hi toadfood (interesting name!),

Thanks for reaching out to me. Yes, I'm blending up a simple salad dressing with just a teaspoon of tahini every night. transitioning, I guess.
I'm committing to at least one OA meeting a week for now. getting my feet wet, so to speak.

[Love]

Hi Love!

I too have issues with compulsive overeating. This plan will give you breathing room to work on that issue while still losing weight. Wander on over to Jeff Novick's forum and study up on Calorie Density. Once you understand the concept it's a lot easier to eat few enough calories that you lose weight, while still satisfying the large quantities of food you're used to.
I eat a lot less than I used to, but still eat a lot of food. The learning curve has been slow, but the progress has been remarkable! I still have a long way to go but I'll get there!

I think that compulsive overeating is largely an adaptation of our bodies to the poor nutrition of the Western Diet. We consume far too many calories, but not enough nutrition, so there is a switch in our brain that tells us "we need more nutrition" and we answer it by eating more crap, which does not turn off the need for more nutrition, only makes us fatter and sicker.
If we reverse that, and start eating tons of nutrition but few calories, which is what this program is all about, we will naturally, over time and without much effort on our part, retrain our brains and bodies to adapt to the proper nutrition it was designed for.

I have nothing against 12 step programs. A.A. helped me through some very difficult times in life. But if we do as suggested above, we put ourselves on the path to recovery without even thinking about it. I'm not knocking OA, or discouraging you from using them, but in my opinion, the best way to overcome the compulsion to overeat is to start feeding your body what it truly needs.

OA can really help people struggling with that uphill battle to regain control over food in their lives. By changing to this way of eating we level the playing field and it's no longer an uphill battle, but more like an interesting and enjoyable journey. Truly, a "Happy Road Of Destiny", but not one we have to trudge along. OA can compliment that. But in my opinion, if everyone who struggles with compulsive overeating would just eat the way we eat, there wouldn't be a need for OA.

I'm glad you're here!! Happy Eating!

-Norm

Yeah, I especially agree with the part of how we've adapted to the horrible food present in our society and hence the problems we're dealing with. thanks for your thoughts on everything!

[Love]

Congrats on making the decision to try this out. BTW, nothing self-indulgent about wanting to regain your health!

That salad dressing sounded good to me. How about trying to sub a tablespoon of water with a touch of ground flax in it. The flax acts as a thickener and should be a pretty tasteless sub for the oil. Much better mouth feel without the greasiness.

Good luck on your journey...a lot of us are in the same boat.

Hey Geo- a pleasure to make friends with you!

That gave me an idea to try chia seeds to bind up some salad dressing. I seem to have some impaired digestion and feel much better on as much raw food as possible with some starch to weave it together, so I'm looking for creative ideas for salads. thanks!

[carollynne]

Good Morning to you, Love!
Welcome to you here!
You will find plenty of company on this forum, and lots of encouragement too. I found that my taste buds changed dramatically and so it became easier and easier to be on this WOE (way of eating). For salad dressings try the recipes thread on this forum there are so many to try. I never liked miso, so cannot say much about that one.
Have a great day and remember to be kind to yourself along the way.
the rewards are great here! Good health, more energy and a feeling of helping others too.

[Love]

Good Morning to you, Love!
Welcome to you here!
You will find plenty of company on this forum, and lots of encouragement too. I found that my taste buds changed dramatically and so it became easier and easier to be on this WOE (way of eating). For salad dressings try the recipes thread on this forum there are so many to try. I never liked miso, so cannot say much about that one.
Have a great day and remember to be kind to yourself along the way.
the rewards are great here! Good health, more energy and a feeling of helping others too.

You're sweet Carollynne! thanks for reaching out to me. I really have a nice, good, strong feeling that I'm in this for the long haul. Weight loss will be slower than crash dieting but I feel like I've made some viable lifestyle changes. I feel so much better already, I'm really grateful.

I look forward to getting to know you!

[Norm]

Weight loss will be slower than crash dieting but I feel like I've made some viable lifestyle changes. I feel so much better already, I'm really grateful.

Slower, maybe!! But crash diets always lead to train wrecks!!

I have never been on a crash diet that didn't:

- leave me feeling on edge all the time.
- make me feel deprived.
- cause me to become more obsessive about food.
- lead to binge eating and guilt.
- end in failure.

A lot of people don't call this a "diet". Neither do I. It's far more than that. Many people here call it a way of eating. That is a lot closer to the truth. I've taken it one step further... I call it a way of living because it's changed everything about my life

With this way of living I never go to bed disappointed that I failed today and hoping that tomorrow might somehow be different. I never wake up in the morning dreading another day of deprivation and wondering how much longer my willpower can hold out. This way of living is so rewarding that even if I reached my goal weight today I would not change what I eat!

Rest assured that whatever your rate of weight loss on this way of living that it is sustainable and can lead to a future of better health and happiness. I'm glad you're feeling better already!! You will have ups and downs, bumps and dips... we all do... but expect that feeling to continue and to grow! Mostly, enjoy the ride!!

-Norm

[Love]

Weight loss will be slower than crash dieting but I feel like I've made some viable lifestyle changes. I feel so much better already, I'm really grateful.

Slower, maybe!! But crash diets always lead to train wrecks!!

I have never been on a crash diet that didn't:

- leave me feeling on edge all the time.
- make me feel deprived.
- cause me to become more obsessive about food.
- lead to binge eating and guilt.
- end in failure.

A lot of people don't call this a "diet". Neither do I. It's far more than that. Many people here call it a way of eating. That is a lot closer to the truth. I've taken it one step further... I call it a way of living because it's changed everything about my life

With this way of living I never go to bed disappointed that I failed today and hoping that tomorrow might somehow be different. I never wake up in the morning dreading another day of deprivation and wondering how much longer my willpower can hold out. This way of living is so rewarding that even if I reached my goal weight today I would not change what I eat!

Rest assured that whatever your rate of weight loss on this way of living that it is sustainable and can lead to a future of better health and happiness. I'm glad you're feeling better already!! You will have ups and downs, bumps and dips... we all do... but expect that feeling to continue and to grow! Mostly, enjoy the ride!!


Thanks Norm. It felt so danged good to go to bed last night not feeling disgusted with myself, and I woke up feeling a subtle feeling of respect for myself, good God, how wonderful!! It gave me a little momentum to keep going. I'm not a particularly religious woman, but I've been praying to God to please do for me what I cannot do for myself and to stop destroying myself with food, and I'm being delivered.

Yeah, God and carbs are doing me good. To think all of these years I've considered potatoes unhealthy, and now I've reincorporated them into my diet very successfully. I'm not even missing all of the fat I used to pile up on them.

I'm sleeping better too. I actually have the energy to go out and get some exercise, and my dog is very grateful.

I can't wait to reach my first goal and go get a pedicure!

-Norm