Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Sorry to hear that Lyndzie, do you have any new information? How are your hands at the moment?

I am feeling so much better! Thanks for asking, Fuzzy. The paIn was weird, showing up in different joints every day this past week. Some pains were consistent, like my fingers and left knee, but every day I would wake up and find out something new hurt, like ankles, or wrists. Fortunately it was relatively mild.

I have been extremely diligent about my food since this all began. I’m not sure exactly what the culprit could be, but avoiding oil and dairy seems to do the trick. It’s like Dr. Goldhammer says, he loves a patient with pain because they are compliant. It really has shifted my thinking about food.

I only have 5 pounds to go to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight! That is totally manageable. Just a few more pounds and I’ll get back in my skinny jeans. Woohoo!!

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear about your joint pain! Hopefully it isn't RA...that would be tough. But maybe it's reactive arthritis, which strikes after an illness...not that a pregnancy is an ILLNESS, but your body does go through some tremendous changes in pregnancy.

anyway, glad it's eased up a bit, and you are wise to be mindful of your foods. I'm sure oil exacerbates joint pain. Take care! Feel better!

Hi Lyndzie, it's great to hear that you're feeling better! My friend told me once, that every time she goes off the diet and eats fast food&sweets for a couple of days she gains weight and feels awful. And how she envies the people that can eat bad food and it doesn't seem to bother them. And I told her that she's lucky, her body is telling her right away, you're doing something wrong, change it! Maybe it's the same with you and dairy ...

But is it also possible that you've had like a virus infection or something like this? I remember having a stomach bug a couple of years ago and my joints hurt like hell!!

In any case, I'm glad you're doing good and hooray for skinny jeans!!

Hi Lyndzie, I am a bit under the weather this morning so indulged myself by reading your entire baby journal from start to finish. Better than a Netflix binge! Baby Mae is gorgeous and I loved hearing about your older girls as well. And you posted some recipes that look really great too. I wonder how your joints are now? I have had the left base-of-the-thumb pain for years and had a lot of other joint pain that mostly disappears when I am fairly McDougall compliant but comes back when I am not. But the thumb pain never left, strangely. I post little but read a lot here so hope to see continuing updates from you. All good energy to you!

Oh man, I’m a little behind I’m responding! Hi Buns, Fuzzy and Crazy (that’s incredible you read the whole thing! I wonder how much what I wrote matches how I remember it.)

Regarding the joint pain, it went away (yay!), and then I ended up in a Mexican restaurant and ate sour cream. What a bad decision! My thumb started hurting before we even left the restaurant, and I was achy for five days, and fell asleep at 7 each night. I’m almost back to 100% at this point, but that experience made me realize that I can’t get off plan on Thanksgiving without some pretty steep consequences.

Poor little Mae has a stomach bug. She had very fitful sleep early last night, then woke around 11:30 completely inconsolable, with major poops and spit up. She went through 5 jammies and 13 diapers in two hours. It was a mess. I didn’t get to sleep until 2. She nursed in the morning, then promptly puked it up. What’s the difference between spit up and puking? Trust me, you’ll know. She took a break from eating during the day, then pooped again (I have no idea how that was possible), and has been fine since then (knock on wood).

Oh man, the joys of motherhood.

Oh, my goodness. Glad Mae is starting to feel better, and hope you get some rest soon.

13 diapers in 2 hours oh wow, poor Mae!! Well and you of course, I can't imagine the little ones getting sick, that must be tough. I'm usually all over the place when my hubby is sick, let alone a baby. But she's doing ok now? No pooping or fever? And other family members are also ok? I know this kind of viruses can really take down the whole house, nasty little buggers.

Your mishap with the sour cream made me giggle. My husband is allergic to milk products and we got a piece of pastry the other day. The person who made it told us, that there is no added milk so my hubby ate it. Lo and behold after a couple of hours he is covered in itchy spots. The cook then admitted that there might have been a little bit of butter in the pastry . I guess you can't be like dr. McDougall and eat sour cream even once every two years

Hi everyone! Little Mae just turned 6 months old. The time flies by, that’s for sure!

The holidays are over, and while they are fun, it sure can be crazy. My mom was being thoughtful and bought me a box of my favorite chocolates. I ate them and that started a bunch of off plan eating, but now that is behind me and we’re back to the usual. Everyone agreed to skip candy next year, so the only battles I will have to face are cookies and fudge.

I was less than one pound from my pre-pregnancy weight before that, but was really hoping to cross that finish line already. Hopefully my renewed focus can help me start the new year where I want to be.

Mae has almost outgrown 12 month sized clothing. She has a doctor appoontment next week. I measured her with a yard stick this week and she’s about 27” long and probably around 18 pounds.

We’ve just started solids in earnest. I make Jefff’s oatmeal for breakfast most days, so I just scoop a little of that into a bowl for her, and thin with water to get the right consistency. Today I mashed a little banana in it, too. It’s only about a tablespoon of food in total, just so she can learn the basics of eating and swallowing, and experiencing some flavors. We’ll just do breakfast for a while before adding in any more meals.

We did what’s called “baby led weaning” with my older kids. It’s essentially just feeding babies food from the table instead of baby purées. It works great with McDougalling, because so many foods can be mashed up to an appropriate consistency, and there is no salt or oil in it. She’s had some tastes of squash and sweet potato. I’m thinking of making congee this week, and she can have some of that, too.

Best to everyone! Happy New Year!!

Great to hear from you!

Lyndzie wrote:My mom was being thoughtful and bought me a box of my favorite chocolates. I ate them and that started a bunch of off plan eating, but now that is behind me and we’re back to the usual.

Haha moms always kill us with kindness .

I had to look up "Baby led weaning". Sounds great. Were you careful with certain types of food due to, I don't know, chocking hazards?
I wish you and your family lots of love, health and happiness throughout the new year!!

Hi Lindsey!

Wow Mae is 6 months already! Lovely to hear about her having some oatmeal for brekkie and the 'baby led weaning'. Sounds like a great approach and I imagine one that our ancestors would recognise ....

I empathise with you on the family-bought chocolates. Good news that they have agreed to skip candies next year! After dropping plenty of hints over the last couple of years, my family didn't buy me any Xmas chocolates this year. However, my husband picked some of my old favourite chocolates on a pre-Xmas shopping trip. It's kind of him and I don't think he realises just how hard I find it to resist or even ration them! I asked him to hide them so I have to ask him to get me one, but they still sing to me from their hiding place

Getting back to your usual way of eating will get things back on track for you weight-wise

Happy New Year to you and your family xx

Hi guys! A couple quick photos:

Happy New Year! She is so beautiful&healthy looking...Doing a great job Mom!..&...You look so thin& healthy too,keep up
the good work. RAS

Aww, your baby is beautiful Lyndzie! Thanks for sharing those sweet pictures.

Mae is 7 months old (and a few weeks)! We backed off on the solids, and are just giving her little tastes here and there, or a few cheerios on her tray at the table. I'm not in any rush to cut down on the nursing, she's not demanding at all and is just a super easy going baby. She wakes up a few times a night, but I expect that still because we co-sleep and I nurse on demand, which ends up being the most sleep for all concerned. And, my period hasn't returned due to her nursing, and I would rather nurse than menstruate for the time being. On to the more exciting stuff...

Baby photos!



Baby on the move! The big kids are getting better about keeping their toys off the floor so their little sister doesn't slobber all over them. Mae is a drooler, that's for sure.



Cheerios and water and chew toys. The new little puff things that they have for babies are disgusting. The flavor is sickeningly sweet, and they are a weird texture that melts in your mouth. We're starting with a few Cheerios, and then maybe some frozen peas or blueberries. I dunno. She's still working on being able to manipulate food in her mouth and not gag, so no rush there.